Family Ties
by WalkerTRngr
Summary: The murder of a prominent Las Vegas family has the lab working overtime to solve the case as they feel pressure coming down from the Mayor's office. GSR!
1. Chapter 1

-1This is my first shot at a CSI fic so please review and let me know what you think : ) Thanks!!! So I don't own any of the characters so please don't sue me. Also in my world Jorja Fox will never leave the show and the GSR romance won't die out : ).

Grissom was propped up in bed the latest edition of the Journal of Forensic Science in his hands. He was enjoying a very thrilling article on the hatching times of maggot larva and how it change based on the climate and how that can lead to inaccurate readings for a time of death. A small noise at his side made him look down when he saw Sara stir and mumble something in her sleep. Her head was on his chest and her arms were around his waist as she peacefully slept. He was glad she was finally getting some sleep. The past week had been a tough one. They had worked overtime on a case of a two year old girl who had been kidnapped, raped then murdered. Another little girl went missing in the same week with a similar MO in the snatching and they frantically worked to find the man responsible hoping they'd find the little girl before it was too late. Luckily they had found her just in time. Two days earlier Grissom noted that Sara looked particularly tired. I mean working double sometimes triple shifts for the past week could do that to you but he'd seen her do that before and this looked different. When they had gotten home that night she had asked him if it was okay if they had soup for dinner as her throat was bothering her.

"Of course. Honey are you sure you're okay?" He asked her for what seemed like the millionth time that day.

"Yea Gris it's just a soar throat. Probably just allergies or something."

The next day however he noticed that her soar throat had not gone away but had gotten worse. On top of that when he'd gone to kiss her forehead as he went to get out of bed he noticed how warm she was. He made is way into the bathroom to find the thermometer so he could take her temperature. At first she had shrugged him off saying it wasn't necessary and that she was fine. He gave her a look that said 'you're not going anywhere until you do this' and she finally relented. He took her temperature and when the thermometer beeped he looked down and noted her temp was 102.3. He gave her a frown as he turned it over for her to read.

"Okay someone is staying home today. Let me get you some medicine. While I am gone call the doctor and get an appointment. I'll drive you," Grissom said as he headed into the bathroom to get some Tylenol.

"I don't need to go to the doctor and I certainly don't need to take the day off. Just give me a few Tylenol and I'll be fine."

When he reappeared from the bathroom he had a smirk on his face.

"What?" She asked him unable to read his expression.

"Nothing, I just think it's funny how you think I am going to not only let you go to work but let you skip seeing the doctor. If I have to pick you up and carry you kicking and screaming into the car you're going." He punctuated his statement by leaning down to give her a quick kiss.

She sighed, "Fine, pass me the phone so I can make an appointment."

Her appointment was for two hours later and she got dressed and showered while Grissom made them breakfast.

The doctor confirmed what Grissom had told her all along. It was a very good idea that she had come to see him. She had a raging case of strep throat and had it gone untreated for a few more days she may have found herself in the hospital. He gave her a prescription for a Z-Pack and told her to take the next 3 or 4 days off from work.

"OKay say it," Sara said as they got back in the car heading for the pharmacy.

"Say what?" Grissom asked her an innocent look on his face.

"I told you so. Come on I know you're itching to say it," She said smiling, watching the corners of his mouth twitch.

"Well I wasn't going to say anything like that but if you insist. I told you so," he said while smiling.

So Sara had taken the next three days off from work. He had also taken a day off figuring getting some extra rest couldn't him either. He was just finishing the article when his cell phone started ring. Not wanting to wake Sara he grabbed the phone and headed into the other room.

"Grissom," he answered.

"Hey it's Cath. I am sorry to bother on your day off but we got a bad one here. The Johnson family. All four members of the family found slaughtered in their house. The parents were found in their bed. The two kids downstairs in the living room. Apparently Mr. Johnson is a very close personal friend of the mayor's and he wants us on the case. Again I am sorry I know it was your day off."

"No it's okay. Just give me the address and I'll be right over," he said as he went to grab a pen and a piece of paper. He wrote down the address, hung up the phone and went to get dressed. By the time he made back into the bedroom Sara had awoken.

"Hey how are you feeling?" He asked as he kissed her forehead.

"Well my fever feels like it's gone but my throat still hurts," she said as she absent mindedly flipped through TV channels.

"Well the doctor did say it may take a few days for it to go away. When we went to the pharmacy I but antiseptic throat spray. It is in the medicine cabinet if you need it."

"Thanks. You know what I just realized?"

"What?" he asked her.

"Well because we work graveyard by the time we got home and are ready to watch TV are those horrible infomercials have passed. So if I can't sleep and turn on the TV at least I can find something decent to watch," she said as she stopped to watch one of those cheesy shows about people who bring their small claims cases before a real judge on TV for everyone to see. Sara reasoned while this may not constitute decent TV she was sick and that gave her license to watch bad TV and not get ridiculed for it.

Grissom just laughed. Leave it to Sara to draw a conclusion like that.

"Hey I know I was supposed to have the day off but Catherine just called and a family close friends of the Mayor was just all found dead in their house and he wants the team on the case."

Sara looked at him sad. Not so much because he wouldn't be spending the day with her but because she wanted to be able to come with him.

"Now don't pout. You need your rest and before you know it you'll be back out there. I am going to go get dressed. You rest and before you know it I'll be back. I'll bring food back with me when I come," he said as he leaned down to give her a lingering kiss.

By the time he had finished showering and had come back into the bedroom Sara had fallen asleep again. Before he left he leaned down and gave her a gentle kiss.

"My love, parting is such sweet sorrow," Grissom said as he turned down the lights as he grabbed his keys and headed out the door.


	2. Chapter 2

-1Thanks to everyone who reviewed!! Here's chapter two. As always reviews are welcome and no I still don't own CSI I am just borrowing the characters for a little while!

Grissom pulled up to the Johnson house some twenty minutes later. On any other night it would have looked like a nice house on a peaceful upper class suburban street. Tonight it looked like something out of a movie with more than a half a dozen cop cars lining the street the house blocked off with crime scene tape.

Grissom parked his car, got his kit out of the back, and head up the front walkway. He saw Catherine fingerprinting the front door.

"Hey Grissom, looks like someone may have come by dressed as a flower deliveryman. Warrick found a vase by the front door cellophane wrapped with a card. It was addressed to Mike Johnson, the husband."

Grissom stepped over the threshold of the house careful not to knock over the flower vase. To his left was the dining room. To his right was the living room. Straight ahead was a staircase and a hallway which lead to he assumed the kitchen. Greg was in the living room with Nick processing the scene of the teenagers' murders.

"What have we got?" Grissom said as he approached the pair.

"Well it looks like the girl was strangled. The boy it looks like suffered blunt force trauma to the back of the head. I found this small bronze statute and it has traces of blood on it," Nick said as he snapped some photos of the statue. David from the coroners office was with the girl determining a time of death.

"David, it doesn't look like her body was originally placed here," Greg noted as he looked down at her body. He noticed scuff marks on the hardwood floors consistent with her being dragged across the floor then placed down next to her brother.

"No it doesn't, time of death looks like roughly 24 -34 hours ago. Same with the brother. I'll know more when Doc does the autopsy but right now it looks like she was strangled to death and he was hit in the back of the head."

"Thanks David," Grissom said as he knelt down next to the young woman's body. She couldn't have been more than 14 or 15 years old. No matter how long he did this job certain aspects of it never got any easier.

He left the two kids and headed up stairs where Catherine said Warrick was with the bodies of the parents. Up the stairs and to the left was the master bedroom. The two parents were found in their bed.

"It looks like the husband was killed first. A fountain pen was shoved in the side of his neck, nicking the carotid artery and he bled out. The wife was killed with a letter opener that looks like it came from the desk next to the bed. She was stabbed looks like six or seven times. Look at the pen," Warrick handed Grissom an evidence bag with the fountain pen it.

"Congratulations Joey." Grissom read aloud.

"Yea not sure who Joey is. Not any of the kids names. Probably the perps pen," Warrick said just as David walked in the room.

"Lividity is fixed and body temp on the mother is similar to her daughter. I Haven't looked at the husband yet but my guess they were murdered around the same time."

Grissom carefully scanned the room looking for anything that looked out of place. The room had a king size bed and the far left wall and a large flat screen TV hung on the opposite wall above a long dresser. There were his and her walk-in closets and a large bathroom with a Jacuzzi tub and steam shower. The TV was on and it was tuned to CNN. The station had turned all it's attention to the recent tragedy in Minnesota. Grissom finished looking through the parent's bedrooms before heading out to search through the rest of the rooms upstairs.

Greg and Nick headed down to processes the basement.

"Hey Greggo would you look at that?" Nick said as whistled.

"What?" Greg answered as he walked over to wear Nick was standing.

"A Movie theater. I mean this is the real deal. It has a concession stand track lighting and a velvet curtain. Look at the movie theater seats," Nick said looking for a light switch.

"Gives new meaning to staying home and renting a movie," Greg said as checked the AV closet in the back of the room.

It took nearly six hours to process the whole house as it was quite large. When they left Grissom called Sara and told her he'd drop of food before he headed to the lab.


	3. Chapter 3

-1Again many thanks to those people who have reviewed. For those who haven't I'd always appreciate it if you dropped a line or two : ) Thanks!!!

Grissom decided to get takeout from their favorite Turkish restaurant. He got a Greek salad and a lentil soup for Sara and a chicken gyro for himself. When he got home he opened the front door and noticed all the lights were off. He walked in and put his keys down and noticed Bruno had not coming running to greet him like he normally did every time he came home. He was making his way to the kitchen when he heard a scream from upstairs. He quickly dropped the food on the counter and ran up the stairs. He bolted into the bedroom where he found Sara and Bruno sitting in the dark watching what appeared to be a rather scary movie. He noticed she didn't even take her eyes away from the screen and he doubted she even noticed he'd gotten home.

"Sara?" he said in a low voice.

Sara jumped up in bed turning her head in his direction. Seeing her fright Bruno leaped up and yelped at the intruder until he realized it was Grissom.

"Gris don't do that! You could give a girl a heart attack!"

"I could say the same thing for your screaming I thought something was wrong."

"Well me and Bruno got bored. I mean I really wasn't up for a big walk so we played in the backyard for a bit." She noticed the look her gave and started defending her self.

"Look I hardly even moved. I sat in one of the patio chairs and threw him a tennis ball which he brought back and then the cycle continued. Anyway so like I said we were bored. So we thought we'd watch a movie. But I decided why not a scary one, make it more interesting."

"And the lights?" he asked noting not one light was on in the entire house.

"Gris you can't watch scary movies with the lights on everybody knows that!"

"Ah yes how could I forget the cardinal rule of scary movie watching, lights off. Well whenever your ready dinner is served," he said as he bent down to give her a quick kiss on the lips.

"Come on Bruno I suppose you can eat too," the dog eagerly followed Grissom down the stairs.

Sara sat up in bed and stretched. She thought back to when she first moved to Vegas. Life had been so different then. A little scary. She was new to Sin City and there were many times when she felt very alone. Now her life here had real purpose, a real meaning. Her job had always given her satisfaction. She loved helping people and loved solving puzzles. What better way to combine the two? And now she had finally found satisfaction in her personal life as well. When had her life become so domesticated? Well whenever it had she couldn't deny that she loved it. Secretly she believed that deep down all every woman ever wanted was to come home to a nice house, a warm bed and a good man. And Sara Sidle knew she had all three. When she first met Grissom she never saw him as the domesticated type. When she'd first moved to Vegas she felt that fact was further reinforced by the fact that Grissom was such a private person. How could he ever stand to share his space with anyone else? She was surprised to find out just how well he did share his space with her. It hadn't always been easy. When they'd first moved in together they'd had a few fights over how things should look, where certain things should go. In the end she'd usually win out simply because Grissom had told her it was much more fun to end the fight and make up, even if it meant he'd have to let her win.

"Sara you coming? The foods getting cold."

"I'm on way down." Yes Sara Sidle did have it all. A fact she thanked whatever higher power was in existence everyday.

"So what did you get me?" She asked as she walked into the kitchen.

"Lentil soup and a Greek salad."

"You really do know the way to a vegetarians heart," she replied with a smile.

They continued chatting and laughing as they finished the rest of their dinner. After dinner Sara cleared the table as Grissom started a fire going in the living room. They both snuggled close on the couch and within minutes they both fell asleep in each others arms.

It is these simple quiet moments that are the most meaningful in the life, the ones we treasure the most. These are the moments that get us through the day. The moments that carry us through life.


	4. Chapter 4

Many thanks to all those who have reviewed. I must admit and something of a review addict. So help me out eh and review : )? Thanks!

Catherine had handed over all the prints and partials they got at the scene. Besides family members the unidentified print was not match to anyone. AFIS hadn't found a hit and Catherine felt stressed. Ecklie had just called an emergency meeting to discuss the progress of the case. Progress? The bodies had only been found the night before.

"Hey Cath I may have found something interesting," Nick said as entered the layout room.

"Hey where's Grissom?" He asked as he looked around the room.

"I don't know he should be here by now," Catherine answered. She picked up her cell phone about to dial Grissom's number when he walked in the door.

"Okay so what have we got," he said ignoring the questioning glances he got from the people around the room. What was he supposed to say? Well guys I would have been on time except for the fact that Sara thought I needed a shower and she thought it would be a good idea to join me. Somehow he didn't see that going over well.

"As I was just telling Catherine I may have found something. It turns out that Mr. Johnson spent about a week and half to two weeks out of every months in Arizona. From what I found out so far it seems that he was the director of a non-profit children's hospital out there. Or at least that's what I got from the stuff in his office."

"Where in Arizona?" Catherine asked.

"Phoenix," Greg answered.

"I also found receipt slips for a car service he used every time he was out there. Thought maybe I'd give them a call and see what I could find out."

Nick and Greg were about to follow up on their lead when Ecklie entered the room.

"Okay so I see most of the gangs all here for the meeting. Where's Warrick and Sidle?"

"Warrick was double checking the AFIS results before the meeting," Catherine answered.

"Ms. Sidle is still on sick leave," Grissom answered.

"Hey guys still no matches found," Warrick said as he entered the room.

"So does someone want to update me on what they've found out so far," Ecklie asked.

"Well I did find out that Mr. Johnson traveled to Phoneix every month for about a week and a half two weeks. I found some papers indicating he was the acting director of a children's hospital. Also I found the name and number for the car service he used while he was out there so I thought I'd check into it," Nick answered.

"No hits on any of the prints in the house," Warrick answered.

Ecklie did not look pleased, he expected them to already have a suspect.

"Look Conrad as soon as we get something concrete you will be the first to know about it," Grissom answered.

"Well then you guys better hurry and get me some results, put an end to this mystery," Ecklie said as he left the room.

"Yea I hope we get to the bottom of the mystery too," Greg answered.

"Greg if only it were that simple," Grissom answered. "The French author Jean Cocteau once said, 'Mystery has its own mysteries, and there are gods above gods. We have ours, they have theirs. That is what's known as infinity.'" The whole room sighed at the comment and everyone walked out of the room leaving Greg still trying to decipher Grissom's latest word of wisdom.


	5. Chapter 5

Here's chapter five. Sorry it's a short one I promise to write more soon!

Nick had spent the better part of his shift on the phone trying to get information from the Taxi service that Mr. Johnson used when he traveled to Phoenix. At first the guy was going to give him the information and put him on hold. Then he came back to the phone and said he didn't think it would be a good idea to do that not without some kind of legal thingie.

"Legal Thingie?" Nick said to himself. He braced himself for a long argument.

Then Nick had asked to speak to the man's supervisor. Finally after almost two hours on the phone he got the information he needed. On every trip that Mr. Johnson took he had a car service bring him to 99 Parkway Drive in Phoenix Arizona. Nick quickly jotted down the address, thanked the supervisor then headed to his computer. The house belonged Mr. and Mrs. Michael Reynolds. He was about to search through DMV records for Mr. Reynolds when his cell phone rang.

"Stokes?"

"Nicky?"

"Mom?"

"Nicky did you forget to call your cousin Josephine? Remember it's her twenty-first birthday. You were invited to attend the big bash but I heard you told her you couldn't go," his mother said obvious disappointment in her voice.

"Mom you know what my hours are like here at the lab. If I could have gotten the time off I would have gone. I sent her a present which should arrive today and as soon as I get off the phone with you I'll call her," he said.

"Okay, well don't be stranger. It wouldn't hurt you to call your mother more often," this she said in a teasing tone.

"I love you too mom," he said with a laugh.

After hanging up the phone with his mom he went to call his cousin and it was another hour before he remembered he had to look up the DMV records.

When the records were pulled up he did a double take. He couldn't believe what he was seeing. He quickly paged Catherine and Grissom as they were still they only two people not out in the field.

"Hey Nick I just got your page what's up?" Catherine said as she walked into the room.

"You're not going to believe this. Where's Grissom?"

"Behind you. I just got your page. What have you got?" He asked as he looked over Nick's shoulder at the computer screen.

"Well I called that car service company in Phoenix and they said they always drop Mr. Johnson off at 99 Parkway Drive. So I looked it up and found out it is owned by a Mr. and Mrs. Michael Reynolds. Well I looked up Mr. Reynolds' DMV records and well this is what I got," he said pointing to the results on the screen.

"Who would have guessed that?" Catherine said as she looked at the screen.

"As George Bernard Shaw said, 'There are no secrets better kept than the secrets everybody guesses.'"


	6. Chapter 6

Thanks to everyone for their fabulous reviews !! As always the more reviews the merrier!! The idea for this story came from another one of my favorite shows The Closer! I hope you like it!!

"Well unless Mr. Johnson has an identical twin that we don't know about I would say he's been leading a double life," Nick said as he looked at the photo of Michael Reynolds on the DMV screen.

"I think we need to go down to Phoenix and sort this all out," Catherine said.

"I'll contact tell him to call Phoenix PD and give them a heads up," Grissom said as he headed for his office.

"Well I'm going to go page Warrick and Greg and tell them what we found out," Catherine said.

"Okay I'll just keep digging and see what else I can find out about the Reynolds family."

Grissom has just gotten off the phone with Brass. This case was turning out to be a very interesting one. Jim thought it funny that Mr. Johnson/ Reynolds had been such a prominent member of the Las Vegas community and nobody knew his secret. But then again Grissom thought, some secrets are best kept because people don't want to see them. He decided he'd call Sara and see how she was doing. He called their house After the fifth ring he was about to hang up thinking she was asleep when she answered.

"Hey Griss," she said noting the caller ID.

"Hold on a sec okay?" She said as he heard her put down the phone.

"Bruno no, not in the living room!" He heard her shout.

He laughed wondering what antics their dog was up to.

She finally come back to the phone somewhat out of breath.

"Hey sorry, I was giving Bruno a bath. I turned my back for two seconds to reach for more shampoo when he ran and started rolling around in the flower garden. Then I heard the phone ringing so I ran to answer it. I left the patio door open and he followed me in covered in mud. And of course he decided to perch himself on his favorite spot the living room couch."

"Well honey he is a dog after all," Grissom said laughing.

"Yes Griss I know but we've taught him better than that. Now in addition to giving him yet _another_ bath I now have to clean the couch."

"You're supposed to be resting," he said matter-of-factly.

"Yea, yea, I know but I come back tomorrow anyway. I just feel like a caged bird here. I am going crazy with nothing to do!"

"Well I called to see how you were doing and to tell you that I have to go to Phoenix with Brass."

"Phoenix?" she questioned.

"Yes, one of the victims from our crime scene, Michael Johnson, it seems his alter ego, Michael Reynolds is a resident of the great city of Phoenix. We need to go to Phoenix and speak with his family out there. I'll be home soon to pack. Are you hungry?"

"Actually me and Bruno had tofu dogs for lunch."

Grissom made a face as he thought about the time she'd made him try them.

"Well then I'll see you in a bit. I love you," he said as he grabbed his jacket.

"I love you too."


	7. Chapter 7

**I'm sorry it's taken me so long to update this story. Author Warning this chapter is complete an utter fluff:) I promise the next chapter will have more meat to it! Enjoy!! And as always tell me what you thought! Thanks!!!**

* * *

Grissom made it home twenty minutes later and began packing his bags. Jim had told him he'd pick him up and they'd ride together to the airport. Grissom was putting his toiletries in his bag as he thought about leaving Sara. Most normal people wouldn't be too worried about leaving for a day or two. But ever since her accident he always was worried whenever he had to leave, which thankfully wasn't a lot. Plus although it had happened almost two year ago he would never forget her face when he came to say goodbye as he left for his sabbatical. Looking back he didn't know how he was able to leave so easily. He should have told her then how much he would really miss her. What his being separated from her would do to him. But since that was the past and he couldn't change it he vowed that in the future things would be different. Now every time he left for a trip he made sure he did something little to show her how much she meant to him.

Grissom made his way into the bathroom and started running the bath. He added Sara's favorite bubble bath, and sprinkled the top of the water with rose petals. He then proceeded to light the various candles spread around the tub. He got out the small stereo he kept under the sink and set it to play a soft mix Sara had dubbed their bath time medley. He was putting his finishing touches on the room when he heard Sara calling his name.

"Griss? Can you hear me?"

He could hear her coming up the stairs so he quickly shut the bathroom door as she stepped into their bedroom.

"Where have you been? I have been calling your name for like five minutes. I started to get worried that something may have… wait, what's going on in the bathroom?"

So much for the element of surprise Grissom thought.

"The bathroom? Nothing why do you ask?"

"Then why did you slam the door as soon as I walked in?" She asked curious.

"Did I slam the door? I didn't even realize." He started to back up against the door as she walked closer and closer to him.

"So nothing's going on the in the bathroom?" She asked again with a twinkle in her eyes.

"Nothing at all," he stammered.

She picked up his hands gently placing a kiss on each one of his palms before the she reached for his sides and started tickling him (Yes Sara Sidle had learned early on in their relationship that Gilbert Grissom was _very_ ticklish. But then so was she).

He couldn't stop laughing.

"You're lying I can smell the bubble bath on your hands," she said laughing.

"Okay, ok I give in, mercy , mercy."

Sara stopped her assault and gave him a quick kiss.

"So you going to let me in that bathroom?"

Grissom opened the door and spoke as Sara walked in.

"I thought it would be nice for you to just relax tonight. I know I won't be here but since you haven't been feeling well all week I thought this is just what you needed."

Sara was touched. Grissom always knew how to make her feel like the luckiest girl in the world. Sara turned to face Grissom with a grin on her face as she started removing her clothes.

Soon she stood before him completely naked and Grissom was having trouble breathing.

"You going to join me?" She asked seductively.

"Uh… What did you say?" he managed to squeak out.

"I asked you if you were going to join me, well unless you just prefer to stand their drooling. Your choice."

Grissom finally got his voice back.

"Honey you know I'd love to but I can't. Jim's on his way to get me."

"Now if you hadn't been so distracted earlier and heard me calling you, you'd know that he's not going to be here for at least a half hour. He said he was stopping by the Starbucks near him to get his daily Caramel Macchiato and asked if we wanted anything. It normally takes him at least twenty minutes to get here from his place and all the normal non-nocturnal people will be at Starbucks getting their morning coffee so you know there's going to be a line."

"Well since you put it that way I guess I could spare a few minutes," he said as he started to step into the tub.

"Your clothes!" Sara shrieked with laughter as he stepped in fully clothed.

"Ah yes I knew there was something I forgot. See what you do to me? You distract me to the point where I can't think straight."

"And that's a bad thing?" She asked with a twinkle in her eyes.

"On the contrary. It's a marvelous thing," he said as he gave her a kiss.


End file.
